In racing video games, such as on a desktop computer, video game console, or other system, a player typically maneuvers a racer along a track in a virtual environment. Exemplary racers may include race cars or other vehicles, player avatars, and other racing entities. Furthermore, racing typically includes a competitive characteristic, for example, racing for speed or accuracy (e.g., through gates), jumping for distance, racing with fuel conservation goals, and dog-fighting. Additionally, a racer may be challenged by other competitors, either actual players, or an artificial competitor generated by the computer operating under an artificial intelligence (AI) program. Such competitive characteristics can challenge the player in controlling the racer along a path, such as a race track or other route.
A control system, generally including steering, acceleration, and brake systems, is required to maintain a computer-controlled racer along a path. A control system in a video game or other simulation works in conjunction with a physics engine system that calculates the physical response of a racer. Such a control system needs to be calibrated with appropriate initialization parameters to appropriately respond to input commands and create a realistic response. An uncalibrated steering system (i.e., one with arbitrary parameter settings) combined with a non-trivial physics model will result in observably sub-standard performance. The vehicle is likely to exhibit visibly significant under-steering, over-steering, and/or oscillation about a desired line.
Further, the parameters for one type of racer are not generally transferable to another type of racer presuming a moderately sophisticated physics engine. For example, parameters for a Ford Focus may be painstakingly hand-tuned such that it satisfactorily follows a desired line. However, using the same control system and parameters for an Audi R8 or a Corvette Stingray, for example, would result in very poor performance. It is inevitable that, for any implementation with a faithful and non-trivial physics simulation system, some car-specific parameters will always require tuning. For any video game with a significant number of cars (and many now feature well over a hundred), it is practically infeasible to tune these parameters manually.
To avoid this issue, video games generally “cheat” in some way. Some games may use a simplified physics model for AI-controlled cars, or bypass it altogether. Other games imbue the AI-controlled cars with considerably increased traction compared to the human player—greater control results if the AI-controlled car is “stuck” to the road. Other games may use similar “hacks,” and these all result in diminished realism, and so negatively impact the game-play experience of the player.
The information included in this Background section of the specification, including any references cited herein and any description or discussion thereof, is included for technical reference purposes only and is not to be regarded subject matter by which the scope of the invention is to be bound.